Kerry picks up quick GOP support for State

12/21/12 2:34 PM EST

Several top Senate Republicans were quick Friday to praise the selection of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to become the next secretary of state.

“We have known John Kerry for many years,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told reporters shortly before President Barack Obama made his pick official. “We have confidence in John Kerry’s ability to carry out the job.”

And Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — who like McCain was a vocal critic of Susan Rice, another leading candidate for the State job — said Kerry is a “solid choice.”

“He has a lot of experiences, he’s been on the Foreign Relations Committee for a very long time, he knows most of the world leaders,” Graham said. “So when he goes into a country, he will be a known quantity. I’ve disagreed with him on a lot of policy choices but I respect Sen. Kerry would be a pretty solid choice.”

Though McCain noted that Kerry still has to go through the Senate confirmation process, there's nothing to suggest he'll encounter turbulence. Kerry has already received a multitude of compliments from his Republican colleagues, many of whom were highly critical of Rice. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations withdrew from consideration for the post last week after the fallout from her comments following the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in September.

Regardless of who succeeds Clinton, McCain said he and Graham, as well as Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), will press the State Department on its response to the attacks at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. The State Department came under searing scrutiny this week with an independent report that outlined “systemic failures” at the department before the Sept. 11 assault.

“We always believe that the president of the United States, by virtue of winning an election, should have the right to pick people that he wants,” McCain said. “Those individuals we don’t agree with philosophically, that’s not the criteria. The criteria, is whether that person is qualified and will do kind of job that fits the responsibility they are given.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, said while he has disagreed with Kerry on some policy issues, he voiced no opposition to his nomination.

“He’s always been respectful of my views and has always given me an opportunity to air them,” Rubio said. “He’s clearly qualified and like any nominee will go through the process, answering questions about his record and his position on issues. But having been such a high-profile political figure for so long and a nominee for president, I don’t anticipate any surprises.”

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, who is on track to be the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee next year, said he expected Kerry to be nominated and added that “certainly, he’ll be confirmed.”

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said Obama made the “right choice” to pick Kerry.

“He certainly has the necessary foreign policy experience,” Portman said in a statement. “Maybe most important, he has developed relationships with foreign leaders around the world that can be very helpful at a time when we face so many challenges.”